Sunderland v Middlesbrough: Calm and collected Michael Carrick seeks 'icing on the cake'

Amid the early salvos of the current campaign, Boro are waiting to fully fire at league level, with their best result and performance of the season thus far being reserved for the Carabao Cup when they emphatically beat Leeds United in mid-August.

Points wise, the Teessiders’ Championship haul is solid, as opposed to head-turning, given some comparatively modest league opponents. Sunderland represents a step up on Saturday lunch-time.

For his part, Michael Carrick has been happy with performance levels, albeit less so with his side’s lack of a ruthless edge at times.

If Boro can provide the ‘icing on the cake’, as he puts it, they would be no better venue than Sunderland, whose express start to the season was curtailed last weekend by Plymouth Argyle.

Carrick, who has had mixed emotions on Wearside in his time in charge at Boro, with last October’s 4-0 romp being preceded by a 2-0 reverse in January 2023, said: “Results wise, we are looking for better results (this season), no problem.

"But certainly, from my side of things, from what we are trying to tick off in terms of performance levels, I think we are doing a lot of that pretty well and coming out on top in pretty much everything that we are trying to achieve at the moment.

"We’ve just got to find that little edge and icing on the cake to finish teams off when we have got them in that position."

Carrick’s former Manchester United team-mate and friend Wayne Rooney successfully plotted Sunderland’s downfall in Devon last weekend.

On home soil, the Wearsiders’ form remains resounding. Impressive, if contrasting wins, have posted against Sheffield Wednesday and Burnley and they are yet to concede a goal this term.

Carrick added: "I had a couple of messages and I will speak to Wayne at some point. I was pleased for Wayne.

"In terms of what we can take from it, Sunderland have largely been consistent in the games they have played. We’ve a decent idea of how they approach tings, but it doesn’t mean it’s easier to play against.”